Jamie here. I know it's been a bit since the last blog post. Christmas preparations and work have slowed hobby production somewhat. Saying that though I have not been idle.
I have finished another piece for a Warriors of Chaos army. A mounted Chaos Lord of indeterminate alignment, Tzeentch or Nurgle at the very least. (Are there any others?).
The colour scheme is the same palette that I used for Throgg. The reasoning behind this was so that all of the relevant unit types I.e Characters, Core, Special and Rare each share their own slightly differing palette from each other. The character palette has now been defined, but the other unit classes will be variations and tonal changes on the same scheme so that when the army is displayed a nice colour gradient will run throughout the whole ensemble.
Here are the pics.
I had a sneaky opportunity to try out some of the new GW special FX paints on this one. Didn't try out the rust but I did use the blood, ooze and verdigris. Overall I am extremely impressed with the end result and ease of application. The Nurgle's Rot
will have to be used carefully, not that it isn't effective, but that it will be quite recognisable as an effect. I can see this being one of those effects that people will spot a mile off, which unfortunately is going to cheapen the impact. Playing about with mixing washes in may be the answer to getting a more unique result. Hopefully a future model will give me a chance to experiment further.
The basing comprises of snow covered ruins with chaos elements poking through. Not particularly clear from the pics but there is a ruined statue, PlagueBearer head and rubble chunks. I would have had them more visible but I wanted a light base to contrast with the miniature so the snow coverage won out, plus I wanted a painted area to quickly test out the FX paints without detracting from my original plans for the mini. The Nialakh Green (verdigris) was especially good. Very convincing and easy to apply, although considering that you have to load up the brush like a wash you do need to make sure it cannot run onto areas you have already painted.
Sigmar's Blood.
I purchased SB as I have been dearly looking for an excuse to start a Vampire Counts army for a while now.
The book's production values are of the generally high standard we have come to expect from GW. There is recycled artwork, as well as new, but ultimately it is the descriptive fluff content that I was after.
The story.. A bloodless cadaver is dropped through a stained glass skylight right into the midst of the council of Elector Counts. Providing both a threat, taunt and diversion, as well as riling up the Empire's finest, it was all part of a master plan. Whilst confusion erupts dark servants of Mannfred von Carstein escape with the bi-polar Crown of Command, the infamous relic that the Orc Warlord Azhag the Slaughterer wore during his reign of terror. The Grand Theogonist Volkmar the Grimm enraged at the audacity of this intrusion leads a small force into Silvania to take down Mannfred once and for all. Aided by a grizzled Witch Hunter, a small trio of seperate forces begin the hunt for Mannfred with disastrous consequences...
I originally bought SB with the intention of getting a leg up on some inspiration for a generic force that I could build an army from, coupled with a strong theme to do some conversion work. By and large the book is just about successful with that goal, but I would say that they could have gone further. The Vampire forces are given less descriptive context than the Empire troops. When they do pull out the stops it is good stuff however. For example part of the hunt involves chasing the Necromancer Ghorst who is pulled along in a Corpse Cart by his long dead pox ridden brothers. The characters are always given special descriptive treatment but I would dearly like to have known the history of the zombies and ghoul units. Some information on their lives before they became undead could have really spiced things up and opened up some great conversion opportunities. As it stands there is a paragraph here or there which gives clues but ultimately they are treated like generic Undead. A missed opportunity.
I have not played any of the scenarios yet. From what I can tell they look like they will be fun to play. Each part of the campaign adds new units to the fray and is a great way to start out with a Battalion box and build on it as a good basis for the rest of the army. Rules are tweaked for certain units in subtle ways, a stat boost here or there, Shems Burning Gaze as well as Banishment on a Luminark for example, rather than entirely new unit concepts. An interesting mechanic is the encroaching darkness. It's effects have to be contained by the Empire achieving certain goals. Failure to do so makes life difficult, rather than impossible for the Empire. I shall be playing the campaign fully down the club at the earliest opportunity and will definitely chronicle the results.
Summary. The book is clearly aimed at two people looking to start fresh armies rather than grizzled veterans. Forces are built gradually with good resource material to draw from. It's almost like a fun interactive way to do a 'Tale of Two Gamers'. Hardcore Tourney players will struggle to see why they should buy this, and in its defense I really dont think it's aimed at appealing to those types of players.
I consider the book to just about have been worth it. Expect to see future posts showing off a newly completed unit or two. :) I am looking forward to playing the force as I build it and I do have the germ of an idea for a theme. As I mentioned before; the Empire forces are described in a lot more detail than the Undead; so Vampire players will have to look harder for their army themes but it is certainly possible for the Empire side with the fluff text present.
A final reason to buy Sigmar's Blood is the cliffhanger. I wont spoil it but I will say that I hope they continue the story as it does leave some questions. I really hope GW pull out the stops and do one of these for every race. It's about time they concentrated more on the ripping yarns than the generic armies that the game's races have by and large become.
Thats it. All thats left is to say Happy Christmas and New Year and may your hobby be plentiful. :)
Jamie.
